30 November 2012

Maxwell [in foreground] was a puppy and his brother MacTavish was foreman in charge.
We prefabbed the frames off site and the whole structure appeared in one weekend.
Inside was a bed and kitchen cupboards. Cooking was outside.
This was a big improvement on our two-person tent.

A lot has changed since then.

December is a great time to wander in the forest surrounding our place and seek out native lilies and orchids, like our favourite below:

28 November 2012

Gardens of Glenlyon has been organised by a small group of volunteers, with no financial support, no slush fund, no external contributions to meet costs. In fact the organising group, at the moment, is carrying quite a financial burden - hoping that the weekend is a success and they can recoup some of their outlay.

Which is why we need people to buy raffle tickets! We've got some great prizes, so come along to the Glenlyon Hall and buy buy buy.

And for our gardeners' sakes - because they've been working so hard over the past few months - we hope that the world turns up to view their gorgeous and very different gardens.

So far, our wonderful sponsors have provided the following items for raffle.

22 November 2012

This garden sits on the
high point of Glenlyon, with rich red volcanic soil, but ferocious winds and
frost.In 2004 a start was made on
the seriously overgrown garden. One third of the property was cleared of an
impenetrable buddleia thicket revealing the magnificent arbutus uneda and the
large apple on the west boundary.

By 2006 the dilapidated cyprus
pines had become dangerous, so 16 were removed, opening up the garden but
exposing it to the constant southerlies.Now the densely planted casuarinas, and blackwoods provide excellent
cover.They were watered in,
mulched very heavily and from then on received no help.Within three years, the red volcanic
soil had done its work and the trees are 2.5 m high! They are lopped annually
to maintain thickness and retain the skyline.

Having provided shelter,
the planting of shrubs and herbaceous perennials began, using very hardy plants
like hazelnuts, artichokes, saltbush and berberis. By 2008 the shelter was
sufficient to remove the artichokes and some hazelnuts to a less hospitable
area and replace them with more tender plants. Unfortunately thesaltbush, having been topiarised for
some years, succumbed to the cold and wet.

In the West Garden you
will find various viburnum, philadelphus, berberis, cistus, correa, sambuccus,
crab apples, crataegus, parrotia persica, pomegranates, buddleja, leucadendron,
leptospernum, kolkwitizia, camellia, sarcacocca, santolina, rosemarys, sages,
lavenders, ceratostigma, ribes, wood strawberries and lots of other things!
Among them a new sculpture by Stephan Guber, a German sculptor.

The Ram Paddock was the
old orchard, with only a few trees left.In an effort to overcome the depredations of wind, ‘stepover’ apples are
being trialed here! The Ram sculpture (Dave Dando 2010) leaps into a sea of
cornus alba siberica and cornus flaviramea and is backed by a magnificent
walnut. The dogwoods are underplanted with spring bulbs and autumn flowering
chrysanthemums for seasonal interest. All very tough and able to withstand the
gales!

The South 40 is the
propagation area. Currently bearded iris, cornus, garlic, hazelnuts, christmas
lilies, and belladonna lilies are being grown. Also asparagus, onions and
potatoes for the table.Interestingly, the plants thrive in this exposed position and it’s good
for ‘growing on’.

The veggie beds are set to
the north to avoid the worst of the southerlies and catch the best of the sun.
The Owl is another Dave Dando piece.

The OK Corral, fenced in
willow (Jason Jones 2007) with three manchurian pears, is a wonderful showcase
for bearded iris and an entertaining area with shelter from the winds.And last but not least, The Nanna
Garden provides shelter for the elderly lemon and many less hardy old fashioned
plants.

6 November 2012

5 November 2012

I inherited my love of gardens from my
maternal grandmother.As small
children we spent our summer holidays at Nowa Nowa in East Gippsland, setting
out from Melbourne before dawn so that the car radiator wouldn’t boil in the
summer heat.

Nana had a large rambling garden with a
long winding driveway.The air
smelt of roses, especially the scent of the climbing Black Boy beside the
kitchen window.

Circa 1948

Nana hated
housework, preferring instead the creative pursuits of cooking and gardening.When cooking, she managed to get flour
on her glasses, down her front and in her hair as she whipped up the most
amazing scones and cakes.

The
kitchen had emerald green linoleum on the floor, with a bright coloured block
pattern. When Nana did get around to housework, she would wash the kitchen
floor, rub it with bees wax and get us to be the polishers.We would don old socks and her huge
bloomers and skid around on our bottoms till the floor gleamed.

One of our favourite spots in the garden
was the raspberry patch.We could
climb under the brambles unseen, and pick the berries to our heart’s content.

One day we were caught.Nana spied us there and with a roar,
she descended on us, grey hair flying, laundry prop held high above her head,
like Boadicea attacking the Romans.Luckily we saw her in time to run for our lives and hide in the chook
house.

Nana’s garden was ambitious - large,
beautiful and untidy.In a letter
to my sister dated October 1965 she writes “For some weeks I have worked from
6am to 8.30pm to bring the garden to as near perfection as I can.It has been the work for two men.”Of course, she did have God on her
side.

She was a member of the CWA
and the ladies were invited for lunch.At age 85 she decided that the front garden needed a fishpond.None of the males in her life would
build her one, so in order to have a fishpond before the CWA ladies arrived,
she started to dig one herself.After suffering a mild stroke that day, she returned from hospital to a
garden with a fishpond.The males
of the family had completed the task.

We have several plants in our family that
have been handed down over the generations.My favourite is Nana’s pink violet.The wonderful thing is that the
gardening gene seems to have been passed on to a couple more generations, as
children and grandchildren, on arrival at Greenlion, embark on the family’s
traditional stroll around the garden.

1 November 2012

QUEEN ELIZABETH WINS THE INAUGURAL CHERRY RIPE AWARD
We at Crosspatch have an annual wager of a cherry ripe for the first person to see the kingfishers returning from their over winter in the Daintree. They come home to nest and raise their young, feeding on the bountiful supply of small creatures in the Loddon and our dam.

Robyn wins every year.

We have extended this to a virtual award to the first rose in our garden to flower, and this year it was Queen Elizabeth, just edging out Blackboy. [ think it is still OK to use this name!]

What is Gardens of Glenlyon?

‘Gardens of Glenlyon’ gives people the opportunity to see our beautiful part of the world and explore a range of gardens, from formal home gardens to rambling bush estates. Visitors will see how gardeners of this area have addressed the diversity of soil types, microclimates and site locations.
Gardens of Glenlyon: Summer was held in December 2012; Autumn in April 2014. Winter will be 29-30 August 2015 and the final GoG will be on 15 and 16 October 2016 when we celebrate Spring.